New Beginnings (A Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars Crossover)
by Sydney Sampson-Webb
Summary: With Chuck and Blair Bass ruling the Upper East Side as Manhattan's Royalty, what could go wrong? When they meet Hanna Marin and Caleb Rivers, two tangled worlds are spun into one. When Dan Humphrey and new writer, Ezra Fitz, team up, all the UES and Liars better watch their backs for a story coming out that could ruin everyone's new and improved lives.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey! Hey, you!" broke the silence of Manhattan, New York with a bang. The city's background of white noise interrupted by a local socialite's call to a newcomer on the streets.

Chuck Bass sighed and outstretched an arm to retain the outspoken brunette, who had just been happily hugging his arm. Last time she snapped at a person, it had ruined a business deal for Chuck, and had taken the full team of Serena, Nate, Dorota, and himself to calm her down.

"Blair." he hissed, only to be pushed off and away.

"Um, hi." a long-haired blonde greeted with a small wave and confused expression. If only she knew what she was in for. Most people that didn't know Blair Waldorf Bass were commonly intimated by her intense and forward ways.

Blair whipped her dark and freshly highlighted hair over her shoulder, surely smacking Chuck in the face with, "Yeah, hello," She waved a few gestures towards the blonde's attire, "You look like you know a thing or two about fashion, would you please tell him that I need to go home and change because the black Louis Vuitton booties would look better than the brown ones do?"

The blonde openly smiled, ready to impress the first person to recognize what her niche was in the city. Confidently, she raised her eyebrows and gazed at her husband-to-be. She opened her mouth to speak, but the man with the brunette stopped her.

"Excuse her, she can be so headstrong and-" Chuck began, only to be cut off once again by his lovely wife.

Blair gave a small jump, whirling to face Chuck, "I am proving a point!" she declared. Facing the fashion forward blonde once more, Blair cleared her throat, "So?"

Newly discovered designer, Hanna Marin, let out a laugh, "Well, you could go home and change, or, you could do this," Hanna leaned down and folded Blair's boot socks over so a black interfacing with speckles was revealed. Standing up, she flipped Blair's scarf and adjusted it so the print showed more black than brown.

This girl knew her stuff. Nodding approvingly to the blonde's work, Blair cocked her head towards Chuck. Even all queens must admit they were wrong.

Not to be interrupted, Chuck had locked into a conversation with Caleb Rivers- Hanna's fiance on how their significant others were too fashion driven and obsessed for their own good.

"You were right!" Blair called to Chuck, smirking as she hated the words spilling from her mouth.

Raising his eyebrows and chuckling, Chuck gestured to Blair, while looking at Caleb and Hanna, "Iconic. Did somebody get that recorded?"

Knowing how rare it was to be called right when he was arguing with Hanna, Caleb smiled at Chuck's remark. Blair, on the other hand proceeded to roll her eyes. Her husband would surely pay for that remark later. With a smile tugging at her lips, Hanna stepped besides Blair and across from Chuck.

Deciding that she liked these people, Hanna pointed to Chuck, "So, what's your name? In case, in the nature of fashion, you have to be right again."

Outstretching his hand for Hanna to shake it, Chuck stated his main line and motto, as infamous as it may be, "I'm Chuck Bass."

At the same time, Caleb had jumped in to assist with the introduction, "He's Chuck Bass." he remarked in unison, following Chuck's manner.

Full on grinning, something he rarely did, Chuck finished the handshake and thumped Caleb on the back, "I like this guy. Can we keep them Blair?" he remarked, with approval in his tone.

Nodding, Blair offered her hand to both of the newcomers. Chuck's approval was usually the toughest part of anything, at least he always wanted it to be, "I'm Blair Bass." she greeted with a shiny white grin.

The newly found friends came to the notion to walk the next block together. Chuck and Blair walked on the outside of Hanna and Caleb, as if to shield them from the harshness of the passing pedestrians surrounding them. Considering Hanna and Caleb to be the freshman of New York, and Chuck and Blair to being the big bad seniors you know you don't want to mess with it.

"Are you new to the city then?" Blair posed the question, looking first at Hanna, then to Caleb.

Adjusting his tie, Chuck shook his head at the question itself, "Blair, do they look like locals?"

Blair rolled her eyes, a sigh escaped from her, "No, but you can never be to sure of things and I'm open to surprises. Like how I ended up marrying Chuck Bass. How Serena leaves for L.A like she did for boarding school- without telling me. Like how Nate might become a politician. Like how Dan freakin' Humphrey-"

Chuck slowly raised his hands in surrender, "After being reminded of all that, I'll need a drink." He turned to Caleb, "Now, who are you and where are you from?"

Looking shocked to be given the privilege to talk, Caleb just stared at the sidewalk for a while, "Well, I'm Caleb Rivers and this is Hanna Marin. We're from Rosewood, Pennsylvania."

"I'm an up and coming fashion designer and Caleb works for some secret company that I can't even know the name of." Hanna elaborated, throwing in a few charming laughs.

Blair brightened, "My mom's a fashion designer- Eleanor Waldorf? I help run her company, but would be much more interested in the designing things in it more than anything. I love fashion though, as you can tell!"

Hanna laughed to fill the pause in the conversation. Was the girl seeing her as competition or a friend? Someone she'd be willing to take down on the way to the top? Unsure of what to say next, Hanna smiled at Blair.

Luckily, Blair was feeling talkative today, "I used to have a blonde best friend. Serena van der Woodsen decided that she'd rather go work on some movie set- again, then stick around the Upper East Side and be with me."

"A movie set? That sounds cool. It was probably a deal she had to act fast on, don't take it to heart." Hanna remarked, standing up for someone she didn't even know. And probably never would.

Blair crossed her arms, looked to the sky, and considered this, "She didn't even say goodbye. She just- left. And around here, people don't work on movies, they star in them."

Chuck took it to his power to step in. Blair would always shut down when she thought of Serena and her leaving. Everyone wanted to know what was running through the blonde's head at the time. Blair more than anybody, but when Blair shut down, Manhattan shut down. And Chuck hated to see either happen.

"I'm assuming neither of you have any dinner plans, so, would you care to join us tonight?" Chuck offered, manipulating the conversation, a skill that would always be his own.

Having ducked her head at the talk of Serena, Blair perked up. New people, new friends, new opportunities. The sounds of any of that were music to her ears. Seeing Blair rise, Chuck hid a smile. What made her happy, made him happy.

Hanna shrugged, "Sure! Why not? Where should we meet you?"

Newcomers that didn't the exact power The Basses had on the city. Blair and Chuck thrived at the idea and thought of it. Hanna and Caleb seemed pleasant and polite, but everyone was game to be toyed with when it came to Chuck and Blair Bass. What could it hurt?

Exchanging a glance and thoughts almost telepathically with Blair, Chuck went on speaking, "We'll send a car for you. Where are you staying?"

Caleb laughed, "We're in the middle of looking for a place now, but for now we're up at The Empire."

Holding in a cackle, Chuck rubbed his hands together. It was fall, it was cold out, "I highly recommend The Empire. Always." Out of all his property in New York, the Empire was definitely Chuck's most successful. Plus, when his father had been alive, he had been able to rub it in his face.

Caleb and Hanna nodded in reply, thinking nothing of the sort. New York people probably had preferences on everything.

"What time?" Hanna finally asked, getting out her iPhone to implant it into her about-to-be busy schedule.

Blair answered this time. She couldn't let Chuck have all the fun, "Oh, if you're at The Empire, we can find you."

"People are so wrong about New York. The locals aren't rude at all. That Blair girl seemed interesting but broken over that Serena chick. And, I liked Chuck, too. Plus, he's not all that bad to look at. What'd you think of them?" Hanna questioned Caleb, who had grown very quiet as they continued walking blocks on the way to a coffee shop Hanna had read about online.

Caleb simply shrugged. He hadn't formed an opinion on either of The Basses yet. Blair seemed nice enough but she also seemed like the type that wouldn't be afraid to screw you over. The only thing he knew about Chuck was that A.) His name was "Chuck Bass" and he liked to flaunt it and B.) he approved of The Empire Hotel. Talking to someone for ten minutes didn't give you much to go off of.

Nodding to Caleb's unsaid explanation, Hanna felt her mind wandering into all the sparkly and shiny things in boutique windows. Dresses, mini-skirts, and jackets all shimmering in glitter and gold. Design inspiration and her credit card were calling her name. Smiling sweetly, Hanna faced Caleb and pouted her bottom lip. Knowing Blair would further teach her how to get her husband to cave to anything.

Pretending not to notice her fascination in the clothes, Caleb scratched his head, "You know, I think I see the coffee shop a few stores down." he craned his neck, nodded, and gestured for Hanna to follow him to it.

Rolling her eyes, Hanna craned her neck, peering behind the mannequins, mocking Caleb, she began her sentence the same way as well, "You know, I think I see Men's clothing in there. We have to get you looking as nice as Chuck for tonight!" Grabbing Caleb's hand, she dragged him through the double doors into the brightly lit shop.

In the lounge area of the award-winning and much Instagrammed about coffee shop, a man full of fire scrawled words into a notebook. The paper was being pressed so hard it was on the verge of tearing in two. Just like the man's heart.

Leaning back in his chair, the guy sighed. His hand was cramped. His notebook was almost full. And his coffee was very cold.

A guy of the same writing kind and almost identical physical characteristics- dark hair and pale skin like he hadn't seen the sun in days- approached his doppelganger, "I don't mean to interrupt, I know how it is when you get on a role, but, do you want a refill on that?" The man pointed to the coffee at the table in front of them.

Looking around from the notebook to the cold coffee, the writer scrambled for words. He was infamous for his rambling, but it seemed the notebook had stolen all of them, "Yeah, that'd be great."

Taking his cup to the counter, the man ordered one and payed for it as well. Retreating to the writer, he handed him a fresh cup.

Gratefully taking a sip of the hot black wonderfulness, the writer dug in his pocket for change.

"No, no, it's on me. I want a trade. A coffee for a discussion on writing." At the obscene gaze from the writer, the coffee-buyer felt the time had come to introduce himself, "Ezra Fitz, former English teacher and struggling writer."

It was a fair enough deal, you had to admit, "Dan Humphrey, struggling writer and hated by all of my former friends."

Ezra Fitz nodded. He had come from Pennsylvania to succeed as a writer, looks like changing locations does nothing in a city full of other wannabes and failures. Wherever you go, you take yourself with. In New York, everyone was in the midst of learning that life lesson.

Running a hand through his mane of dark curls, Dan went on. His rambling had returned all too soon, "Funny thing is, I'm hated by all my former friends for publishing two stories on them. I'm struggling to finish the third."

Shocked at the similarity to himself, Ezra's eyebrows shot in the air, "I tried that, writing about what I know of people. I called it a true crime novel. At the time, I couldn't make myself publish it, but now, I think I can."

"You become a shut out when you do. The first book, I changed names and altered stories. The second book, I didn't change anything. I kept everything as vile and horrible as it really was. I ruined parts of their lives. And my own." Dan reflected on what he did to the only people that ever truly cared about him.

Ezra nodded, realizing all the effects he could on Spencer, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and, Alison, if he did publish. If he did do it, could he handle the aftermath? "Did it completely ruin their lives?"

Leaning back once again, Dan pondered all of this, "For the moment, definitely. It delayed everything that would be handed to them anyway. Not in the long run. They're all living high-paid, high-class lives.

Getting to his feet, Dan marched over to the stacks of newspapers by the dimly lit windows. Gathering a copy of each, he returned to Ezra and his all-too comfortable arm chair. Dan scowled down at the familiar faces on the pages of The New Yorker, The Times, The Post, and his personal least favorite- The Spectator.

Plopping the papers onto the table as he grumbled what his friends had become and done, Dan showed Ezra the group of socialites that ended up truly getting the best of Dan. "Chuck and Blair Bass are still the King and Queen of the Upper East Side."

A front page article on the almost royal couple and their family was dropped to Ezra. "Chuck is the CEO of Bass Industries, a manipulative asshole, a basic murderer, and he still got the girl." Staring at Blair's photo for longer than he should of, Dan pointed to the beautiful brunette, "She deserves so much more than Chuck Bass. Blair is brilliant and witty, perfect, and she settled for the monster that is Chuck Bass."

Ezra stared at articles and pages on a very in-love couple who was taking New York by storm, giving to charities, helping out the lower class, building their family legacy, and maintaining a successful company and life. Just by the way Dan talked, he had at one point or another been in love with Blair and Chuck had gotten in the way.

The next paper was dropped in front of the former English teacher. Instantly, it caught his eye. The lettering, the detail, the design…

"Meet Nate Archibald, or Nathanial, as he now goes by." Dan narrated, gesturing to the guy waving from a podium on a stage, "He's rumored to be running for mayor, if he wins, he'll be the youngest one in history. He also is the Editor-in-Chief of the New York Spectator, the paper you're holding. Really, he's a manwhore and a crybaby."

Shocked, Ezra slowly nodded. Dan knew a lot of dirt on these people. Up until now, Ezra had been planning on voting for Archibald. Consider his opinion swayed.

Dan dropped the final articles and papers on the table. The stack was definitely the thinnest and the lightest. It was as if New York's memory of the allusive blonde was slowly disappearing with her. Pitiful, really.

"Serena van der Woodsen. The former fantasy of all my high school years. She's ruined quite a few opportunities for me and just did what she's infamous for. Leaving. She ran off to Los Angeles without a word to anyone. Some say she went crazy, she got pregnant, she's starring in a movie, she joined a cult. No one knows. She'd make you feel special, only to move on to the bigger and better moments later."

The blonde looked like she could be capable of all the things people thought- both good and bad. And she looked like she didn't care about any of it whatsoever.

Finishing up reading about the people who's bad doings were seemingly unnoticed, Ezra set the papers down on the table between him and Dan. What these people had done, to Dan and in front of him, definitely wasn't forgotten by any means. Nor should it be.

"You know, Dan, you know a lot about these people. Almost all of it isn't in any of these papers. You could still take them down. People never change. I'm sure they're the same people you've always known them to be. But, cults and going crazy when you're trying to start over? Being a womanizer and running for an office? Leaving you for the clearly not better choice, a murderer, and a CEO? You could still ruin them- all of them. If that's what you want." Ezra told Dan, throwing in his two cents.

Staring at the faces of people he once called close, Dan definitely agreed. They all deserved some type of repercussion for their pasts. Licking his lips at the very thought of all of them falling down and staying down, Dan bobbed his head yes, Someone needed to show the world who Chuck Bass, Blair Bass, Nate Archibald, and Serena van der Woodsen were. He tried before, but his conscience and good heart failed him. This time, it wouldn't.

"You're right, Ezra. You care to help me?"

Extending his hand, Dan clasped Ezra's firmly, smiling sickly at his new found friend.

The meeting between The Writer and The English Teacher was one that the Upper East Side, locals, newcomers, and all, would never cease to forget.


	2. Chapter 2

The Bass' limo pulled into park outside of the largest and most upscale townhouse on the block. An architectural dream, the house stood tall and mighty marked with elegant design and true character. Steps lead to a fancy door with small shrubbery plants on each side. Down the street, Central Park was two blocks away, and where Manhattan's Royalty typically took evening walks with Monkey, the dog.

Arthur, their trusted limo driver, opened the door for Chuck and Blair to get out. Blair came first, frantically thanking Arthur then running up the steps, pulling Chuck by his arm the whole way to the door. Chuck, dealing with a call about the meeting he missed because of his lunch with Blair, mouthed a thank you to Arthur, and allowed his only free arm to be tugged on by Blair.

Dorota -Blair's old maid from growing up- rushed out of the kitchen and opened the door, ready to take whatever necessary orders from Blair for the dinner party later. "Ms. Blair, Mr. Chuck, everything perfect for guests later!" she exclaimed, seeing Blair's frantic expression.

"Add two more places to the table, we picked up some people off the street." Blair ordered.

Dorota's expression showcased her uncontained surprise. At that, Chuck gave a low laugh and marched out of the entry to finish his call, leaving Blair to plan things, something she loved and succeeded at greatly.

Sighing at the news of the call, Chuck hung up, knowing he'd have to go back to The Empire for the second time that day. Getting over it, he gazed around at the tall ceilings, custom-made chandeliers and glittering lights, and iron railing of the spiral staircase to the second floor. Furrowing his brow, Chuck knew something was missing. Typically, a certain someone would greet Blair and him happily when they arrived home. Someone other than Monkey.

Approaching the stairs, Chuck saw the over-sized brown teddy bear before he saw the boy himself. At the sight of his son, Chuck's frown turned into a wide grin. Little Henry Charles Bass sleepily rubbed his eyes as he dragged his favorite stuffed animal down the stairs. The three year old had awoken from his nap and was ready to continue the day. Seeing his mother and father were home, Henry threw the bear down and quickly descended the rest of the stairs straight into his father's open arms. Father and son embraced in a tight hug.

"Daddy!" Henry shrieked, wrapping his arms around Chuck's neck and clinging tight.

Chuck peppered Henry with kisses and lifted him onto his arm, "Hey, little man. I missed you today," he greeted, kissing the top of Henry's brown wavy head.

Henry kissed his dad back on the cheek and exchanged bold beams with him. Chuck hugged his little boy again, just as tight as before. When Blair had first announced she was pregnant, a lot of people -Serena, Nate, Eleanor, Cyrus, even Lily- were a little concerned with Chuck's upbringing of an absent mother and a father who ignored him to great extremes and later attempted to have him killed, twice. It wasn't the least bit shocking that the people closest to him had doubted his ability of parenting. Being entirely honest, Chuck had been concerned himself. Blair always had believed in him though, that definitely had helped overcome the feelings and conspiracy theories.

In the end, the Basses ended up being right, what else was new? Little Henry adored his father to great extremes.

Shaking her head in adoration at the scene, Blair strided over, her heeled Louis Vuitton booties(in black) clicking on the floor, "My boys," she gushed, wrapping her arms around both her son and husband.

"Mommy!" Henry exclaimed, kissing Blair on the cheek as well.

Smiling, Blair did the same to her son, "Guess what, Henry? Tonight we're having guests over."

The little boy's bright brown eyes lit up. He loved parties and guests as much as Blair loved planning things and Chuck loved saying "I'm Chuck Bass". And, a party tonight, sounded like a great ending to a great day.

"Do I get to dress like Daddy?" the young boy eagerly questioned, pointing to Chuck's signature suit and tie ensemble that Henry loved to mimic every chance he could get.

Letting out a laugh, Chuck nodded in reply. Henry typically got everything he wanted from either his parents. It was very hard for both Chuck and Blair to say "no" to their beloved son.

"You and I can pick something out when we go to town in a little bit. Go get ready, buddy." At this, Chuck set Henry down. Giddy with glee he'd be going to town with his father and able to dress like him at the dinner with guests, Henry dashed upstairs as fast as his little legs would carry him.

Watching him go, Chuck and Blair exchanged smiles with each other. The two took a step closer together. Cocking her head ever-so-slightly Blair crossed her arms, and shook her head as if she were annoyed with her husband, "My, my, my, I had no idea you planned on going to town again today, _Mr. Bass_."

Turning his head the other direction, sensing the tease in her voice, Chuck played along, his hands cupping her face, "I just got a call from my assistant who is insisting that I come to The Empire as soon as possible. Do you have a problem with that, _Mrs. Bass_?"

The two loved calling each other by their titles of almost four years of marriage. From Manhattan's Royalty to The King and Queen of New York, just Mr. and Mrs. Bass was enough to bring a smile to either Blair or Chuck's face. The name had the years of many downfalls, takedowns, hookups, and successes tied to it. The fact that it was real was an accomplishment in itself.

"As long as I get you alone tonight, I don't have a problem with anything." Blair admitted, staring deep into her husband's eyes.

To answer her further, Chuck planted a kiss on her lips. Upon its conclusion, he tucked a strand of brown curly hair behind her ear, and whispered, "Three words. Eight letters."

A wide smile spreading across her face, Blair repeated their favorite saying back to him, "Three words. Eight letters."

"Still scowling at the papers, I see. Nothing really has changed, has it, Dan?"

Dan jumped at the sound of the voice he'd only heard over the phone for the past two weeks, when they'd been in New York the whole time. Giving one last glare to The Bass Family's smiling faces at the latest Upper East Side bash he wasn't invited to, Dan got up from the kitchen counter in his penthouse.

"The only thing that's changed is they have a kid now, but plenty of famously divorced couples had multiple children. Things could still go my way. He doesn't deserve her." Dan grumbled, pointing to Chuck Bass's grinning face on the front of whatever newspaper decided to cover it this time.

Jenny Humphrey, someone once banished by none other than Blair Waldorf Bass herself, snorted and strided over to her still-delusional brother, "But, you think you're worthy?"

"No, I didn't say that and you know that, Jen."

Rolling her grayed-down smokey-eyes, the formally infamous platinum haired blonde rolled her eyes, "You didn't have to, it was heavily implied," she remarked, stacking the papers and pushing them as far down the counter as they'd go. Dan needed to move on and grow up.

Not thinking that her brother would still be in the same funk she left him in, Jenny leaned against the counter and stared at him for a few beats. Dan didn't look back and instead pulled out his phone to text his newly found friend, Ezra Fitz. He was sensing a rush of inspiration. Taking the papers home and glaring at them for the past hour really had helped.

Finishing, Dan gazed at his sister. She had grown up stuck in the crossfire of Brooklyn and the Upper East Side all these years. Somehow and somewhere along the line, she made the best of all of it. Jenny now was co-signed in designing a fashion line for Waldorf Design. The girl worked closely with Blair and her mother. Maybe she could be the ticket to his way in between Blair and Chuck...

"I met somebody," Dan confided, pointing to his phone. He could tell Jenny things. After all, all those years, she knew he was Gossip Girl for the most part.

Her eyebrows shooting into the air, Jenny gripped her brother's arm in amazement, ready to squeal out of excitement. Could he finally stop dreaming about Blair and Serena? Time could truly heal all wounds and leave nothing but a scar as a reminder.

Seeing the look she was sporting, Dan shook his head. Wow, for a writer, that was total word vomit, "Not like that, you can wipe that look off your face. He's a former English Teacher and a co-writer of my next book about the Upper East Side,"

Jenny sighed, her smiley faced expression fading into oblivion. The last thing anyone needed was another one of Dan Humphrey's books on the Upper East Side.

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. His own sister didn't even believe in him anymore. The mighty had fallen. "This time it's going to be different. It's years later down the road. They think it's all in the past. They think it's over. I'm here to bring out all the skeletons in the closets. It's Gossip Girl in real life."

Jenny shook her head as an answer, "Dan, the only thing more unneeded then another one of your books on Manhattan's elite is Gossip Girl's return. Deep down, you know this, you know it very well. This is just you trying to get back at people that actually did something with their lives. Move on and do something with yours." Jenny commented, throwing her two cents into the deal.

Feeling more offended by the second, Dan stood up, "Hate to break it to you, Jenny, but this is me doing something with my life. Go design another dress for Blair. Stir up some drama between her and Chuck too, if you can manage."

Putting a hand on her brother's shoulder, Jenny turned him around to face her once more. If anyone could talk Dan out of this, it would be her. Before he started in on any of this nonsense. So, as his sister, she took it to her ability to slap Dan across the face, "Get it together! Have you been drinking?"

Holding his cheek, Dan pointed to the elevator entrance of his penthouse, "And you get out. The only liquid I've had today is coffee and inspiration."

Knowing it was useless, Jenny turned and marched out of there. Dan was delusional and was the one living in the past. If he were to go through with this, it'd ruin everything Blair, Serena, Chuck, and Nate had worked so hard to build- their own empires. If he couldn't see that, then he was truly blind to reality. Asides from stopping her brother altogether, Jenny had one more thing she could do. Warn the Non-Judging-Breakfast-Club. Tonight at the dinner party, she'd do just that, she promised herself.

Going into his office to dig out a notebook in a drawer, Dan grabbed a pencil and saw the old Gossip Girl laptop sitting in the same drawer, a layer of dust now on it. Knowing that Jenny was wrong and he was right, he pulled it out and plopped it on his desk. Would the monster of a thing even turn on?

Pressing the power button, that's what Dan felt. Power. Power of most of his teenage life, and a key part of his twenties, where he had been in control. He'd had more of a pull on things than Queen B herself. More sources than any newspaper editor, Nate, could gain. More love than Chuck Bass could buy. And more of a presence than Serena van der Woodsen when she walked into a party. It was all coming back to him.

Flipping the notebook to a crisp, clean first page, Dan, with shaking hands lettered "Inside 3.0" across the top.

Because, after all, the third time's a charm.

Three stores and many shopping bags later, Hanna and Caleb finally arrived back at their hotel room at The Empire. Caleb was exhausted. Shopping included lots of walking, carrying, and pretending to be enthused over whatever new item Hanna found. She wasn't even supposed to be shopping, she was supposed to be designing, but suddenly the urge to impress people she barely knew had spurred something.

Hanna plopped down onto the bed and pulled out her phone, clicking on one of her closest friends to report on how her first day in the city was going.

"Hey, Han, wasn't that couples last name Bass?" Caleb called to her, staring down at a handout on the hotel sitting on the brightly lit sink countertop.

Waving him off, Hanna spoke to good ol' Spencer Hastings, a dark haired brunette with an IQ level higher than anyone else she knew, "Hey, Spence!" she greeted, sitting up as her friend finally picked up the phone.

"Hanna-banana! How's New York?"

"Amazing and beyond. There's enough sight-seeing, shopping, and people to last a lifetime. Traffic is so bad. It took forever to find a cab to get back to the hotel, but I bought so many cute things and -you're not going to believe this part- we got invited to this dinner by these two locals just because I gave someone fashion tips on the street."

Shuffling through papers about her latest internship, Spencer laughed and sat back in her swivelly new office chair in her dorm room- which she had all to herself. Being a Hastings did certainly have it's perks and privileges. Georgetown University had a great campus, great dorms, and a great atmosphere. The only thing Spencer was missing was her friends. Consider this call from Hanna a cherished thing.

"That's great, Hanna. Tell me all about them- take as much time as you need. Listening is better than doing internship paperwork." Spencer admitted, putting her feet on top of her desk and craning her neck to gaze at the door. This would be the worst time for someone to burst in. She'd look to be slacking and Spencer Hastings does not slack.

"Well, they're names are Chuck and Blair Bass. And Blair is so pretty, and she has hair, like probably a shade of brown lighter than yours, she helps run her mom's fashion company, but she's really sad over what this Serena chick did. Apparently she just upped and left and they were really close or something. And then, there's Chuck. He was all decked out in a suit and tie, and Spencer, he looked _so_ good. I'm dressing Caleb like that tonight. He seemed a little full of himself, but really well mannered at the same time. And they make a really cute couple." Hanna gushed, hugging a pillow at the same time.

Having answered his question, Caleb walked over to the bed where Hanna was and waved the pamphlet on the hotel in front of her, pointing to the words on the back that said "A Bass Industries hotel".

At the same time, on the phone, Spencer digested all the information Hanna provided and knitted her eyebrows in confusion and almost...recognition, "Bass. Why does that name ring a bell?"

Grabbing the brochure, Hanna's eyes widened, "Spencer, google Bass Industries and tell me what comes up."

Her curious ways getting the best of her, Spencer pulled her feet to the ground and typed on her brand new laptop- a going away present from her parents, and smirked at what the search came up. Bass Industries was a huge leader in New York real estate, property, and construction. The company had billions behind it. Relaying this information to Hanna, Spencer saved the best part for last, "And, you met the CEO, Charles, or Chuck. His dad, Bart started the whole thing."

Dropping the brochure, Hanna's eyebrows shot in the air, "Chuck's the CEO of a billion dollar company?"

Scrolling through online newspaper articles, Spencer smiled at the same ones Dan Humphrey spent an hour glaring at. She had to agree with Hanna- Chuck did look nice in his many suits and tuxes. Very nice indeed. Coming upon some family articles, headlines like "The Basses Take on New York" "The King and Queen of Manhattan" "New York Royalty" One thing was for sure, Chuck and Blair were a pretty big deal in New York.

"Hanna, he isn't just the CEO of a billion dollar company. He's a _billionaire_. Blair and him are big time socialites. There's newspaper articles galore on them. She used to be married to a prince and his dad died by falling off of a rooftop at a party he was being honored at. Google them, they're honestly icons of New York society."

Jumping to her feet, Hanna ran to get out her make-up bag. She should be primping for this dinner and not talking on the phone. Not to mention, she didn't even know what time they were picking them up, "By the sounds of all that, I better go get ready. I'll tell you all about the party when it's over." With that, Hanna threw her phone down and grabbed Caleb's arm.

"Chuck's a billionaire." she excitedly whispered, running to the brightly lit counter.

Caleb smiled and bobbed his head. Hanna may be excited for the dinner party, but the last details they just learned about the host and hostess made it a little less exciting for him. Did they really want to intrude on the high class and high society lives of Chuck and Blair Bass?

Only time and his patience for things Hanna loved, would tell.

Chuck and his son strolled hand and hand through candy stores, a custom suit and tie store, and, finally, The Empire Hotel. Henry was gleaming the whole way, clutching his bag of candy(which Blair would kill Chuck if she knew he bought Henry some) and the bag with Chuck and Henry's matching ties for the dinner party in a few hours.

Waving to the front desk workers, Chuck crossed behind the desk and to the hall in the back, his office being the final door it led to. Outside of it, a man in a business suit turned around, smiled, and shook his head, "I was just about to go upstairs to get ready for the dinner, but I thought I'd come see you first. And Henry."

"Unca' Nate!" Henry exclaimed, dashing down the rest of the hallway into Nate's open arms. Nate wasn't actually related to Chuck or Blair, he'd grown up with them and was like a brother to both of them. Even though he dated Blair for the majority of high school and, even middle school. Through all of it, Chuck and him had remained the best of friends. A few years down the road hadn't changed much, only the fact that they weren't able to see each other daily.

"Nathaniel Archibald, the future mayor of this fine city. To what do I owe the pleasure to?" Chuck greeted, approaching his old friend, and former partner in crime(Blair now owned the role).

Being the modest guy he was, Nate shook his head while ruffling Henry's hair, "I haven't even announced if I'm running or not. Nothing's official."

"Yet," Chuck remarked, pointing his index finger at Nate, "How's The Spectator doing?"

Aside from his political side, Nate also was the Editor-in-Chief of New York's favorite news source since Gossip Girl, The NY Spectator, "Great, actually. Business is booming. The only thing we haven't been able to report on lately is Serena. It's like she's slowly dropping off the face of the earth. Had Lily heard anything lately?"

Chuck cocked his head, "Depends. Are you asking as a concerned friend or as a newspaper reporter?"

Smiling, Nate nodded. Chuck knew him well. Too well, almost, "Both, but she's okay?"

"Lily hears enough to know just that and nothing else."

Lily van der Woodsen was Serena's mother. She'd been married, divorced, and remarried close to six times. One of the times had been to Bart Bass, when he died, she adopted Chuck as her son and since then, that was the only true family he'd had. Until Blair and Henry. Lily was a petite blonde who lived in the same building as Dan did. Her penthouse was higher up and bigger, of course.

Nate nodded only. Serena hadn't only left Blair without an explanation, she'd left everyone. Her mother, Chuck, Dan, Nate, anyone with ties to her New York life. The last time she'd left so bluntly was when she had sex with Nate at a wedding, where he was Blair's date, and later was involved in a man's drug related death with Georgina Sparks, an old frenemy. Even then people knew exactly where she was, exactly what she was doing. Boarding school. And, now, all they knew was she in Los Angeles. Nate would never admit it outloud, he wouldn't even know how to process the words, but he had always liked Serena as more than a friend. The girl had just never been serious enough about things.

"Tonight, daddy and me are wearing matching ties!" Henry said, tugging on Nate's sleeve, as if saying "pay attention to me".

"I can't wait to see." Nate said, brightening from his Serena sadness. Henry could dig anyone out of a pit of sadness. It was a gift.

The little boy gazed at Nate with wide eyes. The gears inside his head were truly turning with ideas. A young mind at work, "Can The Spec-ta-er do a story on it? Can it, pwease?"

Shaking his head, Chuck knelt down beside his son, "Now, Henry. Uncle Nate runs a very busy newspaper, he can't just put people in when they ask. And wearing matching ties isn't very, well, newsworthy. Besides, we were just in the times with your mother about the new hotel upstate."

Sighing, Henry cocked his head at his dad, puzzled, "But you're Chuck Bass."

"Yeah, you're Chuck Bass." Nate wrapped an arm around Chuck and played along with the little father-son talk. When Chuck opened his mouth to protest, Nate talked before a word could come out of his mouth, "people love it when you're in the paper. Somehow that copy always sells a little more than the others."

"Not surprising." Chuck remarked, adjusting his tie.

"Modesty was never you." Nate honestly stated, pulling out his phone and putting in a note to get a picture of Henry and Chuck at the party.

Chuck turned to his friend, the signature Bass smirk, the simple carefree shrug of his shoulders, and, of course, "I'm Chuck Bass."

Oh, yes, Chuck, you'll always be "Chuck Bass", whatever that means. But, how much longer are you going to want to be "Chuck Bass"?

You know you love me,

xoxo Gossip Girl


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey Upper East Siders, Gossip Girl here…_

 _Surprised to hear from me? Don't be. I know it's been a while, but I'm bored and I'm sure you are too. Besides, aren't you just dying to know what happened to the real Blair Waldorf, Serena van der Woodsen, Nate Archibald, and Chuck Bass? Not the wannabes that go to Constance and St. Judes and pay people to write about them, but the real ones who are still ruling the Upper East Side._

 _Of course you are!_

 _So, stay tuned because I think it's time that The Non-Judging-Breakfast-Club gets a taste of their own medicine..._

 _You know you love me,_

 _xoxo Gossip Girl._

The shiny black limo had arrived for Hanna and Caleb perfectly timed, as both of them were finished getting ready, meaning, Hanna was finished putting herself together and bossing Caleb around. The two had it down to a system. And, usually, the system was flawless.

Until Caleb couldn't stand the itch his tie was causing his neck and began to undo it, "Okay, Hanna, look, I'll go to this party with the billionaires and act like I'm having the time of my life, just for you, as long as I don't have to wear this torture device."

Breaking out of her infatuation with the leather interior and lights glowing inside and out of New York City out the window, Hanna turned to Caleb and tried to keep the tie on him before he wrinkled it _and_ his shirt. Sometimes he could be so uptight. It was only one night.

"Leave it alone. This party could make or break my fashion career. We talked to these people for around ten minutes today, there's no need to form an opinion already."

Dropping his tie in defeat, Caleb might as well just give this one to Hanna so she wouldn't nag to him the whole ride to the party. Sighing, he tried to not say anything, but could not stop himself, "Your opinion is that both Chuck and Blair are just great people. To me, it seems like both of them have lived this type of life for their whole lives and honestly, I don't think that it'd make you into a balanced and good person."

Biting her tongue and rolling her eyes, Hanna faced the window once more. They hadn't been in New York more than a day and it was already putting a strain on their relationship. The city was meant for her, she could feel it every step she took, every store she wandered into, and every dream she'd ever had about it. Before they left, Caleb seemed to be in a good frame of mind about. Heck, he'd even proposed months prior. So, whether he liked it or not, he was stuck with her and New York.

"I'll be good tonight, I promise, but don't let them suck you in." Caleb warned, gripping Hanna's hand and running his finger over the engagement ring, with an earnest warning look in his eyes. Rich people always had an effect on the regular folk, it was only a matter of time before all of the glitz, glamour, and green would go to your head.

"Thank you all for coming tonight. It's an honor to have each and every one of you here." Blair Bass began, standing at one end of the table, holding her wine glass with both hands, and gleaming at her friends and family who were seated on each side of her down the magnificent dining room table.

On the other end, Chuck stood, holding a glass of scotch with one hand, the other was on Henry's shoulder, who stood by the left chair closest to his father's, "Welcome to our home, a lot of us have some catching up to do. Before any of that begins, I'd like to personally congratulate my best friend, Nathaniel Archibald on his announcement just a few hours ago on his run for Mayor of this fine city."

Nate leaned back in his chair, which was across from Henry's. Grinning widely, he stood up, and clinked glasses with Chuck. The two buddies sat their glasses down and embraced in a hug in front of everyone. When it concluded, Nate sat down and Chuck raised his glass once more, leading the table in a chime of clinking glasses up and down it.

Smiling herself, Blair shot her husband a wink from across the table, and continued the greeting, "Congratulations, Nate! I'd now like to introduce two very interesting people that Chuck and I met on the street earlier today."

Jenny Humphrey, who'd taken a sip of her wine almost spit it back into her glass at that statement. Chuck and Blair inviting people off the streets to dinner? Times really were changing. She gazed up and down the table. No one looked like they didn't belong, and after desperately trying to be one of Blair's minions in High School, Jenny knew what not belonging looked like better than anyone.

"Hanna Marin and Caleb Rivers," Blair announced, gesturing to the couple sitting beside each other at the table, close to the center. Chuck gave them both the gesture to stand up, not wanting Blair to have to add that.

Hanna stood and gleamed at everyone at the table. Caleb reluctantly did the same, hoping his grin didn't look as fake as it was.

"Cheers!" Blair exclaimed, starting a train of clinking glasses around the table.

Lily van der Woodsen(Chuck's "mother"), Eleanor Waldorf(Blair's mother), Cyrus Rose(Blair's stepfather), Jack Bass(Chuck's infamous uncle), Georgina Sparks(A frenemy of almost everyone and Jack's fling of a few years now), Nate Archibald, Jenny Humphrey, and a few co workers of both Blair and Chuck stared at Hanna and Caleb as the couple sat back down.

Chuck, Blair, and Henry did the same. As everyone settled, the caterer's came in and served and poured more drinks. Nate broke small conversations into one as he asked the table the big question almost all of New York had been asking itself since the latest update on the infamous site.

"Do you guys believe the whole 'Return of Gossip Girl'?"

Blair's fork landed on her plate with a clatter. Chuck's drink stopped halfway to his mouth. Eleanor and Lily exchanged high eyebrowed glances. Georgina and Jack snorted. Hanna and Caleb looked at each other, confused. Jenny coughed and coughed, choking on the bite of food she'd just taken.

"Damn it." Jenny muttered under her breath, staring at her mashed potatoes. Did Dan actually keep his word on something? These days he'd talk about doing something for months on end and it wouldn't happen until years later. Like his book on the Upper East Side, was that going to happen now, too?

"You believe it or you don't, that's the summary of the masses of emails The Spectator's received on it. I haven't even looked at the actual post. Or blast. Whatever we used to call em'." Nate spoke, looking from Chuck to Blair, Jack to Georgina, to the parents, to the nosy coworkers who'd probably talk about this dinner and all of it's surprises until the next one.

Nate went on, "Maybe it's on Serena. The last time Gossip Girl got a big hype up, when the site was still up and going was the return of Serena from boarding school. Maybe she's back from L.A. Wouldn't that be-"

"-Serena isn't coming back."

A voice snapped from across the table. Blair's fingers were intertwined into a tight fist. This dinner party was her's and Chuck's and the last thing they were discussing was Serena van der Woodsen.

"Oh my, have you heard from her, darling?" Lily asked, eager to any details on Serena. Serena was so vague on anything. She didn't even call. Only emailed or texted, and she rarely did even that. Just often enough that no one worried about her. A mother could always worry about her child, no matter how much they knew, it was a given.

"No, I don't need to either. And, I'd rather I didn't. We're all better off without her or Gossip Girl." Blair stood up and dusted off her fashion-forward cape-style black shift dress and marched out of the room. Standing in the doorway, she cocked her head at Nate, "You're allowed to use that quote in your newspaper too, Nate. It's the truth."

A crestfallen Lily shook her head, "It's still that bad? I would've thought they would've talked by now, fixed everything. They use to be the best of friends. Charles, have you tried to get them to talk it out?"

All eyes went to Chuck, who was frowning and sipping his glass of scotch- how he dealt with most things Serena related. In the year's of her absence, Blair still had the ability to rant for hours on end about their friend and his step sister.

Was he going to follow Blair to comfort her? Or let her cool off and come back herself? Would Blair even come back? What happened with Serena? And, what the hell was Gossip Girl? Hanna wondered all these things and more. Maybe the rest of them would talk more about it all now that Blair had left the room.

"I miss Auntie Serena." Henry squeaked out, looking from his grandmas, grandpa, and then to his dad, who shut his eyes at the words.

"We all do, buddy." Chuck replied after a beat.

Henry shook his head, his brown locks going in all directions, "Mommy doesn't and we never ever ever see Serena anymore.," he reminded his dad.

Chuck sighed and looked at the others at the table, who were all staring at him, Everyone at the table knew that Henry wasn't joking, which was the worst of it. Chuck just nodded and padded his little boy on the back.

"Whose side did you take?" Nate whispered, looking to Chuck with raised eyebrows, "Blair or Serena's?"

Craning his neck to see if Blair could be spotted in the next room, Chuck leaned forward closer to the table, and spoke in a low whisper, "I'm not going to say one was more right than the other- for obvious reasons, but Serena's reasoning seemed a bit more...thought out." Pushing his chair out, Chuck began to stand, ready to go comfort Blair because she'd probably been eavesdropping the entire time.

"Now if you'll excuse me-" he began.

"-Chuck, wait. I'll go. I don't know a single thing about this Serena and sometimes talking to a stranger is better than someone who knows everything about it." Hanna remarked, standing up at the table and looking down it at an also standing Chuck.

"Hanna." Caleb quietly warned. By saying just her name, he was also saying, 'don't get involved' and 'don't leave me alone with these people'.

Chuck and the others at the table gazed shocked at Hanna. Weighing the options of letting Hanna coax Blair about Serena or having to do it himself, Chuck cocked his head at Hanna, "Perhaps that'd be best." Chuck sat down again and gestured the same direction that Blair had went, "Go right ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Nodding, Hanna marched purposely into what was the largest most upscale living room she'd seen in her life. It beat anyone's from back home in Rosewood. Tall ceilings, glittery lights, and exquisite recliners, rugs, couches, and china hutches filled the room. Blair stood with her arms crossed and legs crossed, pouting on a leather loveseat, her back to anyone coming in.

"Chuck?" she guessed, ready to snap. He had just admitted to taking Serena's side and didn't even defend Blair in her absence.

Sensing the fire in her voice, Hanna was instantly glad she'd volunteered for this duty, "No, it's me, Hanna."

Blair whirled around and saw the pretty blonde standing in the center of the room, looking quite overwhelmed, "Did Chuck send you or was it the future Mayor?" she asked, standing and staring at Hanna.

Not wanting to get Chuck into any more trouble than he was already in and not wanting to make the guy running for Mayor mad at her, Hanna worked up an explanation in her head, "I sent myself. Sometimes, it's easier to talk to strangers. So, tell me, about Serena and Gossip Girl. I'll be on your side."

"Now, honey, I wouldn't be too sure of that, my own husband isn't on my side." Blair remarked, walking over to Hanna and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Isn't Serena his sister though?" Hanna asked, "Your little boy -who is just the cutest- called her Auntie Serena."

Blair snorted and laughed a few beats, "Henry also calls Nate, the guy running for Mayor Uncle Nate. Nate isn't related to us, but Serena technically is. Her mother, the blonde women out there, was married to Chuck's father when he died, the first time, so she adopted Chuck to be her own son."

Hanna slowly nodded, as if someone dying for "the first time" really cleared things up. It was almost as tangled as The DiLaurentis family tree was.

"Anyway, Serena was my best friend. She's tall- all legs and a head full of blonde hair down to her butt. We were super close until she had sex with my boyfriend, who was actually Nate at the time, and then just upped and left for boarding school without a goodbye. Then she came back and we feuded for a while and we were besties on and off. She dated Dan freakin' Humphrey- don't even get me started on that asshole. He was from Brooklyn, I mean she should've known better. I should've too. But, she stuck around for a few years, we were in college together for a while, looked after her crazy and sane cousin, took down a rich British lady and countless other schemes. She was at my wedding to Chuck, and stayed with her mother serial dating any cute guy on the street, then one day she just decided that she wouldn't be returning and ran off to Los Angeles without a goodbye. It's been years."

Okay, so life on the Upper East Side was officially more complicated than anything. Schemes to take down people were the norm and dating people from Brooklyn were frowned upon. Serena just left. People don't just leave, there was definitely more to it. There had to be.

"I'm so sorry. There must be more to it though, why she left, why she didn't return. Her mother said she only texts and emails. Not to sound morbid or anything but that's what happens in those murder crime shows when someone gets...you know, murdered. Are you sure she's okay?"

Blair shrugged, "I don't know and I don't care."

Hanna raised her eyebrows, she didn't want to argue but the truth was, if Blair didn't care she wouldn't go nuts over the mention of the Serena's name. It was still eating away at her, and it'd probably continue until she knew the exact why of everything. After watching at least a quarter of Rosewood, Pennsylvania's population town get murdered by the same person who would send threatening text messages to her and her friends, Hanna felt it in her duty to make sure this Serena girl hadn't been struck with the same obscene fate and also wanted to make Blair feel better.

"Is that an engagement ring?" Blair asked, pointing to Hanna's left hand in the space between the conversation.

Taken aback by the sudden subject change, Hanna slowly nodded to Blair's question, "Yeah, yeah it is. Caleb proposed not too long ago." Hanna smiled at the thought.

Blair smiled back, then asked a pretty large question, "Caleb isn't too fond at all of New York, is he?"

"Did he say something? Because-?"

Blair shook her head and put a hand around Hanna's shoulders and led her back into the dining room, "He didn't have to. New York is very consuming, but you grow to like it. And, Hanna?"

"Yes?"

"I think this is the start of a very good friendship."

Only nodding in reply, Hanna flashed a huge smile. Blair wanted to be friends. This was music to her ears.

The two girls took their seats at the table once again like nobody had ever stormed out of the room. They took a seat like nothing ever happened. Hanna decided she liked that about New Yorkers, they were willing to pretend like nothing bad happened and ignore certain things in a very classy way. In Rosewood, you make one mistake and you're tarnished for life.

The petite little platinum blonde at the table cleared her throat to speak. Jenny knew the time had come to warn Chuck, Blair, and Nate about what Dan was planning, "I stopped by Dan's today and he's still scowling at papers and articles about anything on The Basses or on you, Nate."

"Oh, Humphrey." Chuck sighed, shaking his head, disdainfully. Dan Humphrey was thought of as a big joke to both Chuck and Blair.

"Oh, Humphrey!" Henry mocked with just as much dislike in his voice as his father. This statement gathered a few laughs from around the table.

Jenny didn't laugh and went on talking, "He's planning to write another book on the Upper East Side. It's not like his last two didn't go over big. I thought I'd warn you guys." Jenny turned Blair's direction, "Plus, I like my job."

"Is Dan behind this, too?" Nate wondered aloud, waving the new Gossip Girl homepage around on his phone.

Jenny shrugged, innocently, "I'd like to say no because I like to believe the best in people but apparently he just met this writer who's going to help him and maybe he persuaded him to start it up again- I don't know. It may even be my fault. I told him that the only thing more unneeded than another book on the Upper East Side is Gossip Girl starting up again."

Blair rolled her eyes, "And you said that you liked your job, Jenny?"

A chorus of laughs sounded around the table. Smiling at her own remark, that really couldn't be called a joke, Blair clapped her hands to shush everyone up, "I have an announcement to make. I recently found out that these two are engaged," Blair gestured to Hanna and Caleb, Hanna grinned, and Caleb cringed, "I think it'd be great if we threw them a proper Upper East Side wedding. Besides, we all know how much I love planning things."

Having enough of rich people, their opinions, and lifestyle, Caleb shook his head. He was putting his foot down, "Thank you, but that's not-"

"That'd be wonderful!" Hanna cut him off, stomping on his foot underneath the table. People were offering to throw them a wedding, people with style, class, and taste. They were not turning this down.

Caleb gave a tight-lipped smile and drowned his mouth with the rest of his drink, slamming it on the table he raised his glass, "I'm going to need another one of these." he blandly stated.

"You know, I'd be careful. Around here, it's not hard to develop a serious case of alcoholism." Jack Bass warned, pointing to Caleb's glass from across the table.

"Around here, I'm assuming a lot of people need alcohol to put up with one another." Caleb retorted and not in the nicest manner.

Jack didn't seem too fazed by being almost snapped at and leaned back and exchanged a gaze with Georgina, who was beside him. Her long auburn brown hair hung behind her in a high ponytail, "It's more common than you'd think. Celebratory champagnes a personal favorite." she nodded. Georgina snuck her phone up from her lap and snapped a photo of the engaged couple. In it, Hanna was beaming and laughing, and Caleb was glaring in the opposite direction, sipping his newly-filled drink.

Texting the snap to a receiver she hadn't sent anything to in years, she composed the following caption, _Chuck and Blair picked up these two off the streets- now they're planning Hanna Marin and Caleb River's wedding. The girl is as much as a kiss-up as Little J was in HS and the guy is probably gonna develop a drinking problem. Things certainly escalated quickly. P.S Blair is still hung up over Serena. Like a lot. Glad GG is back._

Send.

People come and people go, it's a well known fact. Another is that you can know someone for years, since you were kid, but that doesn't mean you know what they're all about and what they stand for. People surprise you because, they're people. It's what they're supposed to do.

But, all in all, why do people leave? Sure, a fresh start is a fresh start, but it's not all that it's cracked up to be. Not always. Some fresh starts are formed on the basis of simply wanting a break, a getaway from the life you feel that you know all too well. On the other hand, some fresh starts exist because of a secret that needed to be hidden. A secret that would tear apart the life you already couldn't wait to get away from.

Across the country, Serena van der Woodsen was tanning on a beach, staring out at the blue sky and blue ocean. This was a common activity of hers. You could fall asleep in the sun and wake up a few shades darker, a great process to forget it all and to not have to feel a thing.

Detachment. After a year and a half of being away from Manhattan, that's all that could be felt most days. Some days, relief was present. Relief away from a documented life and a socialite's dream. It was nice to be normal.

Or was it? At least you didn't have to put with toxic relationships. Friendships that had set sparks to so many bridges just as they begun. Some people thought everything was about them, and maybe it was, but now, in Los Angeles, it wasn't. And that was nice.

Almost two years of living in LA and working on movie sets here and there wasn't as entertaining as one would think. It left Serena with a lot of free time and too much time to ponder on her friends and family ruling over New York. Occasionally she'd google Chuck, Blair, or Nate, but it wasn't the same as seeing them would be and slowly she'd find herself caring less and less. She had left them and they had left her.

Serena had left for a lot of reasons. To start over and to do something with her life. Everyone thought she got everything handed to her, but at the end of the day, she was just a 26 year old with a trust fund. Chuck had Bass Industries, Blair had Waldorf Designs, and Nate would probably have New York under his belt by election time. And Serena? Serena didn't have anything of her own. She was just Serena van der Woodsen. .

Well, it can't be said that Serena van der Woodsen didn't have anything, because she definitely had _something_ and that particular something was the basis of her departure from Manhattan. A secret that she had wanted hidden.

And, so far, she was doing a pretty damn good job.

"Look, there's your, Mommy." a voice behind her said.

Smiling, Serena whirled around and opened her arms to her barely walking blonde toddler who was coming toward her, "Piper Lily!" she exclaimed, getting up and scooping up her dirty little secret.

Piper Lily van der Woodsen was known only by Serena and a babysitter who was a few years younger than Serena that was a college student always looking to make a little extra cash. The babysitter was Emily Fields, who when she wasn't babysitting Piper, working at the local starbucks, and not in classes, was practicing her surfing skills on the wide open Pacific Ocean.

Little baby Piper had been born a few months into Serena living in Los Angeles. When she realized that any one of the countless guys that she serial dated could've been the father, she decided it was better to pretend like it never happened. Until the baby was born, Serena had been convinced she'd be putting it up for adoption. She wasn't ready to be a mother. She wasn't even married and had no idea who the father was, at that point, if she ever did plan on coming back to Manhattan, it wouldn't have been easy.

Not that it'd be any easier now, but perhaps Lily, Chuck, Blair, Nate and anyone else that mattered would fall in love with Piper the same way Serena had the day the little girl was born. Luckily, the one and half year old shared the same characteristics that Serena had- long blonde hair and blue eyes to match.

"She was a perfect little angel today." Emily Fields remarked, scratching her tan forearm and staring out at the ever tempting Pacific. The weather was so nice today. Perfect for surfing, could she possibly fit some into her schedule?

"Were you good for Emily, Piper?" Serena asked, combing back her daughter's hair and staring her in the eyes.

Little Piper cocked her head and then nodded once.

Turning to Emily, Serena handed her a check, "Thank you, very much. You're like her second mom."

Taking the check, Emily smiled at her boss. The spontaneous blonde never ceased to remind her of her childhood crush and best friend, Alison DiLaurentis, "Of course, I-"

The ringing of Emily's phone interrupted her mid sentence. "I better take this." she muttered to Serena as an apology. Glancing at the caller ID, Emily's eyebrows shot up into the air.

"Hanna?" she asked, astonished. She hadn't talked to Hanna in around a month's time. It'd been way too long. After high school, each of the girls had gone off into separate directions, and Emily had moved the farthest. At least the others had managed to stay on the same side of the county.

"Hey! Oh my god, I have so much to tell you. Okay, so Caleb and I are like officially living in New York. It's in a hotel, but the hotel is in New York and that's damn close enough for me. Today, we were just walking on the street and we ran into a billionaire and his wife."

A billionaire? That sounded unlikely, even for Hanna. Emily furrowed her brows together and stared down at the warm hot sand on her bare feet, "A billionaire? Are you counting your zeros wrong again?"

Emily could feel the responsive eye roll through the phone from the blonde.

Annoyed, Hanna shuffled around and took out her earrings in front of the mirror, "No, if you don't believe me, you can google him. Chuck Bass. He's the CEO of Bass Industries and his wife is Blair, who's in charge of Waldorf Designs. We just finished dinner with them. Their one friend is running for mayor and Blair said she's going to plan the wedding for Caleb and me and-"

"-Hanna, you are talking way too fast. Slow down and breathe." Emily remarked, crossing her arms and looking back at Serena and Piper, who were sitting on the towel Serena had been before.

There was a long pause and then Hanna finally came back to the conversation, "Look, I'll fill you in later. All I know is, the wedding is going to be amazing. I'll call you soon, Em!" With that, Hanna ended the call.

Turning back to Serena and Piper, Emily smiled and shook her head, gesturing to her phone, "It was my friend. She and her fiance just moved to New York and I guess they attended some girl's dinner party and now that girl is planning their wedding, which seems odd, but, it is New York, I'm not going to judge, I know you used to live there."

Serena scoffed at the reminder of New York, "Go ahead and judge. My former best friend loved planning things, no matter how random. It sounds like a Blair move. Tell your friend-"

"That's funny you say that. Hanna had been talking so fast, but I did catch that the girl's name was Blair. Only this Blair is married to some billionaire, a CEO, I think?" Emily interrupted, staring down at Serena, who was beginning to register the fact that she lived in a very, very small world.

There were some things, and people, you could just never escape. No matter how many miles you traveled away, how many secrets you hid, and how much you wanted to forget. Biting her lip, Serena stood up and looked down at Emily, who was only a few inches shorter than her, "Did she say Chuck Bass was the billionaire's name?"

Emily looked the the side, thinking about it. Hanna said she could google him. Chuck Bass was the guy's name. Did Serena know him? "Yeah, it was, now that you mention it. Do you-"

"He's my brother. Not biological, but my mom adopted him when she was married to his father. Tell your friend to stay clear of Blair. She's a big part of why I left New York."

Emily nodded. This Blair girl drove Serena out of New York? Would she do the same to Hanna? And, Serena's brother was a billionaire? Wow. "Let me guess, you know the guy that's running for mayor too? Hanna said he was at the dinner party."

"It's true then? Nate Archibald- I used to date him." Serena glanced down. Nate confirmed his run then. That made her almost tempted to call him and congratulate him. Running for mayor was a big deal.

Serena's purse beeped and blooped- a notification of some sort going off. Kneeling down to look at it, Serena tugged her phone out of the bag and shot her eyebrows up. A new post from Gossip Girl? Since when was Gossip Girl up and going again?

 _Hey Upper East Siders, Gossip Girl here._

 _With the news and tabloids going crazy with my return, might I mention page six as well, it's only fair that I give you the update on what our favorite four have been up to lately._

 _Let's start with Chuck and Blair Bass, the couple is said to be taking New York by storm, are they doing that by picking up strangers off the street? Exhibit A._ (attached was the photo Georgina had sent in to GG) _It'll be interesting to see how that all goes. Down in flames, if I might add..._

 _Now, for Nate Archibald. This guy just confirmed his rumoured run for mayor of New York City. I think, honestly, his good looks could win the election alone._

 _And finally, Serena van der Woodsen. Newspapers can't even dig up dirt on the girl, but I sure can. Just seconds after posting my first blast, I received pictures from people out in LA, who love to hear about the dirt happening in NY. Fitting, really. We New Yorkers are known to be much more interesting. Just take a look at this picture and tell me what you see. Serena, obviously, looking tan and oh-so-Blair-Waldorf-best-friend stress free, but who's kid is that beside her? And who's the girl she's talking with- and handing a check to?_

 _It's about to get interesting, I'd stick around if I were you!_

 _You know you love me,_

 _xoxo Gossip Girl._


End file.
